Our "LBS" is not the most local one--there are at least 3 shops closer and ours is an hour away. But the owner is a close friend. He and my DH are JDRF Ride to Cure team coaches--our LBS owner is also a JDRF coach at the national level. His shop is not large, but he has a good selection and is always happy to special order anything they don't physically carry.

When we walk in the door it feels less like we're walking into a store than it does we're walking into a hangout that just happens to sell bikes and gear (and almost always has fresh cookies from a fellow cyclist friend's bakery). The wrenches at the shop are friends, too.

Eventually we want to sell our house. Our primary criteria are to move closer to DH's work AND closer to our LBS so that we can get in on more of their shop rides (there is a well-attended ride pretty much every day of the week, except for most Sundays, since that's JDRF team training day). Their Tues. night ride was ranked highly in Bicycling magazine maybe a year ago.